Baseball Awesome Rankings: First of 2012

I apologize. It has been FOREVER since I have posted last. Between school, work and family, the blog took fifteenth fiddle. But alas, we are back, with the FIRST awesome rankings of the year. Remember, these aren’t who I think are the best teams or who will win the World Series, these are the AWESOME rankings. Anything goes. Here we go:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (34-21): The best record in baseball, by a team that the JWSB team picked to finish first in the West. Matt Kemp is your early front-runner for NL MVP. The Dodgers are second overall so far in team batting (.269 as a team) and fourth in team ERA (3.27). This is a tough division though, and it will be a fight til the end.

2. Washington Nationals (30-22): The best pitching staff in BASEBALL? Yup, the Nats. A team 2.95 ERA is helping the Nationals stay atop the competitive NL East, but you can’t forget the spark that rookie Bryce Harper has given this team. They are fun to watch, and have the arms to compete.

3. Baltimore Orioles (30-24): These are the awesome rankings remember? I think this team is a year or two away from being REALLY good, but this year could surprise us. A young, young team, the Orioles have to play one of the hardest schedules in the league. These top three teams have all had strong pitching, and the O’s are no different. If the arms hold up, look out. Adam Jones is a LEGIT MVP candidate, too bad Josh Hamilton is having a career year.

4. Texas Rangers (32-23): Speaking of Josh Hamilton and the Rangers, this team started out HOT, but has cooled off as the weather gets hotter. That makes no sense…anyway, this team has all the parts to be a World Series contender, but 5-5 over the last 10 games isn’t great, especially given the opponents they are facing. Hamilton has been a stud, and is having about a good of a year as you could hope for, .348 average, 21 homeruns and 57 RBI. Amazing.

5. Tampa Bay Rays (31-23): This team ALWAYS surprises don’t they? Too bad no one actually goes to the games. I will continue to be surprised if the Rays can manage to stay atop the AL East, but the Yankees are getting older, the Red Sox seem to be down, the Blue Jays are dangerous, yet young, and the Orioles are stingy. AL East will be a close race all year.

6. San Francisco Giants (31-24): What do you know, a team that is in the top-three in pitching is one of the better teams in baseball. Amazing how that works. The Giants once again have a stellar pitching staff, but the surprise has been the offense, led by Melky Cabrera who is hitting a smoking 364.

7. Chicago White Sox (31-23): Not completely sure how they are doing it, but the White Sox sit atop a weak AL Central by 2.5 games at this point. The resurgence and re-awakening of Paul Konerko has been amazing. Konerko is batting .366 with 11 homeruns.

8. Miami Marlins (31-23): This team had ALL the hype in the pre-season, and is just now playing like they should. The Marlins added some big names to their team, but the young talent has been key. Giancarlo Stanton (Mike) is one of the league’s best power hitters, lets hope he takes part in the homerun derby.

9. New York Mets (31-24): Hard to not include a team that just threw their first no-hitter in their team’s HISTORY! What a great story. Adding to that is the way the team is playing, going 7-3 over their last 10 to put themselves just a half game out in the NL East. Remember David Wright? Well, he’s back, and the pitching staff, led by Santana and R.A. Dickey have been good. Can they stay in the race?

10. Cincinnati Reds (30-23): I like this team, a lot. They have great pieces and play in a division that is very winnable. The young arms that this team has thrown out have been dominant, including Aroldis Chapman who is 4-0 with a 0.00 ERA. That is dominant. This lineup can win you games, even when the pitching staff is off.

The Bottom Four:

1. San Diego Padres (18-37): I was looking over the Padres roster the other day, and realized I had NO idea who any of them were. Seriously.

2. Chicago Cubs (18-37): I like the Cubs a lot, but man, are they stinking it up right now. There are changes that need to happen ALL over the place.

3. Minnesota Twins (21-33): Remember when the Twins were the team that could win with “no name” players? Well, now they just lose with “no name” players.

4. Philadelphia Phillies (28-28): A team with ALL this payroll should win, right? Granted, injuries have hurt..no pun intended.